High Pitched Noise / Whine / Squeal even when car is off!

Hello everyone,

I've owned my used 2006 Prius for about a year and a half. The other day I left something in the car so after dinner I went outside to get it. I unlocked the door and got the item and noticed a high-pitched whine noise coming from the left area near the steering wheel. I didn't pay much attention to it so I ignored it.

Well for the past few days the sound reamins. Even when the car is off! I don't have any lights on or any doors opened. It's a high frequency sound. I've never heard my car make this sound at all and it's annoying and headache educing. I have to see Toyota about the water pump recall and about fixing the AUX noise, but I guess I'll mention this to them too.

I heard of a whine noise when braking or accelerating, but this is all the time. Even if the car is on or off. I don't know what's causing it... I haven't changed anything in my car to make this happen. Besides my front headlight (HID) needing to be replaced I don't see anything else wrong with the car. (and it's been needing replacement for a while so I don't think the two are related).

Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated. The car is a 2006 Prius and it has about 43k miles on it. I tried locking and unlocking the car with my remote (2nd remote has a dead battery, but I can't think that would cause this...) but nothing seems ot help.

Any ideas?

Thanks!
-Steven

 

Thank you for your quick reply. The noise is on while the car is driving as well, same high pitched noise as it is when it's off. So it's no doubt the car. I drove over 50 miles with the noise, so I know it's not the location either.

The noise seems to be coming from the left of the steering wheel, maybe a bit down. At first I thought it was the fuse box, but it wasn't.

If I disconnect the 12V battery would that erase all the computer information? (radio, gps etc?) I mean if that'll fix it I don't mind, I'm just curious. Or maybe I'm thinking of a different battery. I'm sorry I don't have the manual in front of me at the moment to look. Although I'm tempted to run out to the car now and try anything to get it to stop!

Thank you for your quick reply, I'll try to take it to Toyota tomorrow, even if it's a Sunday.

Thanks!
-Stevne

 

Thanks again for the information!

Tomorrow I'll try to disconnect the 12v Battery (just the negative terminal should do it, or do I need to disconnect both?) I'll update you on what happens with that...

If that fails I may try the fuses, I may as well try before going to Toyota to see what they think of it.

Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it!
-Steven

 

False alarm, it wasn't the car! :dizzy: Thank you for all your help though!

This morning I went out to look, and the noise seemed to be coming from the DVD/Navigation player under the driver seat (I think that's what it is). So I moved the seat forward, and moved the box of items that I had behind me (we're moving), and what do I find?

My Durecell jump starter. It was in the On position with a dead battery, so what does it do when that happens? It makes a high pitched noise!! Ack!! Well at least I found out what was causing it and that it's not the actual car itself. The on switch is a simple toggle switch and something must have pushed against it.

To think I could have turned the noise off at any time... but thank you!! Now just to replace my HID bulbs and get the HV Water Pump recall settled and my Prius will be (knock on wood) 100% problem free!